Camouflaged fishing line and method of making the same



M. K. HEDGE Sept. 16, 1952 CAUOUFLAGEDFISHRGLINEANDIEMODOFUKIMGESAIBFiled Dec. 26, 1946 resented s ept. 16, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT?OFFICE CAMOUFIZAGED FISHING 'LINE QAND METHOD (IF-MAKING THKSAME MotrinK. Hedge, Portland; Die; Application December 26, 1846, Serial N 718,503G Claims (CI. 87- 1) This invention relates to lines'havmg mottledappearances and, more specifically, camouflaged fishing or fly lines andmethods or making the same. b

Linesheretofore commonly employed inconnection with the taking otfishhave generally been of asingle, uniform color. Generally said lines areformed from suitable thread which is braided into the finishcd line;Attempts have i been madefrom-tim' to time to vary the o'er alluniformity of color by braidin difiei'ently colored threads into the butthis nevertheless results in at least a regular or uniform pattern whichdoes not resemble natural objects normaw-found in waters inhabited byfish} (suscquentiy; when said conventional fish arefrequentlywaryhI-them.

Other attempts have been madeto irary'the color or lines of this natureby-coiling a line and dipping -parts of the V coilin difierent coloreddyes, thus producing lines having successively differently coloredsections, very much resern bling other lines-which have been difierentlycolored for-regular intervrds or theh'length to indicate the length orthe-zcst or the amount of the line which has been pay (font.

It is therfore'an object 0! this to produce a line having amottled-color scheme of which the'cclors' comprising the are-differentor are different shades of the same'colo'r, so the important featurebeing that the pattern is irregular and, preferably, no two linearsections of the line will have the same identical patterns; whereby suchline maybe used for decora tive or ornamental purposes or-as acamouflaged fishing line.

As a corollary to the foregoing a iurther object to produce on aline acoin resembling natural objects appearing mush-inhabited waters such aswood which is waterlogged and/or rotten, the reflechon of light rays onthe stems of water plants, or many other objects and reflectionsnaturally found in fishing waters. V 77-..- N

It is another object of this invention to produce such a line by amethod and means whichauto masleally impart the desired color' eil'ectand scheme thereto, relymgin some instances upon the natural contour ofthe orieiml braided-line to wntrol the final disposition of theplurality of [0 colors or shades to be combined in the finished colorscheme of theline, and in other instances upon the-functioning of themachine on which the desired finish is imparted to-tbe Details of theseobjects, as well-as oi the ini5 ventlon. and other objects thezeoiareset rm 2 I 1nthe following specification and fllush-"atedin theattacheddrawing forming a part thereof.

In thedrawingL Fig.4 illustratesa short section or a. braided line towhich layersof colored coatings have been applied but befomthgfixflshed'efi'ect has been produced on the line, half of the line is shown insection to better'illustrate the coatings.

Fig. 2 is a View similar-to Fig. 1 but showing part of 't-h'eooatings'having been removed by abradingto produce the finished colorscheme on the line.

Fig. 2A1 view similar-to Fig. 2 but showing another basiclinestruc'turegdifi'erent from that 15 shown 111m 2.

Fig. 3 is a; side elevation-of a? section of finished linc having" aoolo'r schetne produced in accordance with the present invention.

Fig.- 4 is a flop plan-view of an abradlng machine for producingthe'finishedcolor scheme on the Fig. 5 is a sectional view of theabra-ling machlne'taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a. sectional view of said abradhig machine takenon the line6-6 of Fig. 4.

Reierringpartlcularly to Fig. 3, a section of a line "I finished inaplurality of irregularly intermingled'contrastin splotches of colors isshown in-side elevation The process or method by which the'color efiectis produced is described hereinafter; but'it will be seen that theirregular inter-mingling of colors comprises a variegated or mottledefl'ect including preferably two or three distinguishable, contrastingand perhaps complementary colors, or shades of the same color. Thepattern is actually composed of intermingled splotches of saidcolors andthe particular colors of any particular line will be selected inaccordance with the natural object the line is supposed tc'imitate whenused' as a fishing line.- when used for decorative purposes, the colorscheme selected will obviously be one to harmonize with the locale inwhichthe line is to be used.

Objects which are suitable subjects for imitation in producing fishinlines are wood, and particularly waterlogged or rotten wood; shadows onstems of water plants;- leaves or blades of waterplants closelyadheringto the stem of the plant; or,- insome instances, perhapseven twigs.Cartied-"to its highest degree of refinement, there are almost"unlimited natural objects of an aquatic nature-which could be imitatedsufliciently closely by the process to be described that fish would beunwary of lines made in accordance with the present invention.

The process forforming decorati'veor so-called 4 3 lines in accordancewith this invention depends largely, in one embodiment, upon the factthat the core or body I! of the line I0 is woven and. thus has anirregular surface eontcnr due to threads of the line passing over eachother-hr the weaving thereof, as well as irregularflies in the diameterof the threads. Even if fillers are introduced into the core or centralportion or the line, such irregular contour compcisinghills and valleysor low portions is present.

preferably one or two coatings l4 and I6 of waters moot material areadded in a conventional mannerand. permitted to thoroughly dry. Eachcoat of material is dried before the next is applied. The matings may besuitable waterproof oils, lacquers, paints. or otherwise.

snerdryire. the coated line is then subjected to abrading action on anysuitable device, of which the one shown in Figs. 4 through 6 is oneexample; or such abrading action may be accomplished by hand, usingsandpaper or the lite. if. desired. The object of the abrading action isto remove from the high portions of the body of the line, portions of asingle coating 54 it only one is used, or portions of the two coatingsII and Ni it two are used. Such high portions wflobviously be thoseportions farthest from the center of the line.

In actual practice, it has been found that a woven fishing line has a,contour such that the high portions of the body are not all exactly the3 same distance from the center of the line; whereby removal of portionsof a single coating such as M, or two or more coatings such as 14 andii, will produce a mottled effect comprising two or more irregularlyintermingled colors or shades of the same color. This efiect is alsopartially produced by vibrations imparted to the line in passing over,or in being passed over by, the ahradlng device. Said vibrations areproduced as a result of the line being taut while being abraded and saidline will usually repeatedly bounce away from the abrading device whilebeing abraded. A reasonable length or given sertiorr of line will thusnot exactly resemble other given section or length since the exactpattern of the line is unpredictable. However, it ha further been foundthat the patterns of colors which are produced by the method involvedare highly satisfactory for the intended From Fig. 2, it may beinterpreted that an even amount of each of the coatings is removed fromeach of the high spots of the body of the line, leaving similarly shapedsplotches or spots of the coatings in the low portions of the body ofthe fine. This is not what actually occurs, however, due to reasonsdescribed above and also to one or more of a number of additionalfactors such as slight kinking or waving of the line after coating;unevenness in the thickness of each of the coatings; unevenness in thethickness of the threads in the line: and greater absorption of thecoating by one part of the body of the line timnby other parts.

The finished result, therefore, when using two 4 coatings ll and I onthe body I: issimilar to that showninFig.3. Thisresulhinprinciple atleast, is as shown in cross section in Fig. 2; wherein the curved dottedlines outline the portion of the coatings M and ii which have beenremoved by abrading action. It will thus be seen that the finished linehas a substantially smooth and even outer contour due to low portions ofthe irregular contour oi the body [1 of the line being filled withportions oi one or more coatthe outer surface 01 said coating portionsbeing substantially level with the high poi-tiers of the body (2.

While it has been stated hereinabove that one or two coatings M and i6may be employed, it is obvious that a plurality or coatings in excess oftwo may be used if a desired pattern requires the same. It is also to beunderstood that the body of the line is preferably colored or may beblack or white; the latter two being considered colors for purposes ofthis description and in the appended claims. 7

While one embodiment of the line shown specifically in Figs. 1 and 2 hascomprised a woven body, the results of the invention may be attained byusing a body Ila such as shown in somewhat exaggerated form in Fig. 2A.Said body or core may be formed irom any suitable pliable material ofwhich nylon is only one of a number of examples. One or more coatings Mand I6 of colors distinguishable from each other and that or the body Weare successively applied.

to the body of the line. These coatings are relatively thin as comparedto the diameter of the body |2c and are preferably thinner than thecoatings l4 and E6 of the embodiment shown in Figs. 1 and 2 as can beseen by comparing Fig. 2A with said figures.

Due principally to the vibrating or chattering of the line in passingover the abrading device. irregular areas of the coatings H and i8 willbe removed, exposing irregular areas of the body (2a between theremaining irregular areas or splotches of colored coatings. In someinstances, shallow portions of the body [2a may be removed, as indicatedat 13 by dotted line outline, but this will present no ill effect to thefinished product. In other instances, only part of math; Ii will beremoved in certain areas, thus effectively producing a suitably mottledfinal appearance.

Further, if desired, a woven line may have the depressions thereofsuitably filled so as to produce a. substantially smooth surface priorto applying coatings M and/or IS. The finished mottled appearance isthen produced by means and in a manner as described immediatelyhereinabove.

The sectional views in Figs. 1, 2, and 2A are exaggerated to betterillustrate the principles of the invention. and it is to be understoodthat the contour of the finished lines illustrated in section in Figs. 2and 2A especially will not have the various high and low spots of saidsurface so obviously visible.

Referring to Figs. 4 through 6, an abradin: machine is illustrated whichis suitable for automatically producing the desired abrading action on acoated line. A line having either a woven or smooth body and the desirednumber of coatings applied thereto is wound on a suitable reel (8. Saidline is then passed around a plurality of sets of axially alignedpulleys 2d and 22, each set being preferably commonly mounted on one ofa pair of shafts 24 and 25 for independent and free rotation relative tosaid shafts. The

. t 5 l a 5 line is coiled onto reel 28 which is driven by a suitablemotor and an automatically driven roving guide 30 driven by the samemotor assures even winding of the line in successive layers upon reel28.

In passing in one direction between each of the pulleys 20 and 22, theline passes over the operating surface 32 of an abrading disc or wheel3i which is driven by a rotatable shaft 36. The surface 32 may be eitherbroadly conical or oval, as desired. As shown in sectional Figs. 5 and6, ample contact of the line with the abrading wheel is afforded sincethe device illustrated affords five passes of the line in contact withthe wheel. A greater or less number of passes may be used, asrequirements demand, or the entire coil of line may run between thereels more than one time if necessary. A plurality of passes, asprovided, in combination with the area of the abrading wheel and therotation thereof, will insure that the coating or coatings will beremoved from substantially all of the high portions of the body of awoven line, and the vibrating or chatterhg of the line in passing overthe abrading wheel, for example, will render contact between the lineand the wheel such that irregular areas of the coatings will be removedfrom each other and/or the body of the line, regardless of whether saidbody is smooth-surfaced or woven. During such passing of the line overthe abrading wheel and around pulleys 29 and 22, the line also will berotated about its axis, thus insuring that removal of the aforementionedareas of coatings around the entire circumference of the line will beeffected.

t is recognized, however, that in effecting certain variegated designs,it will not be desirable to remove the coatings from the high portionsuntil the be dy of the line is exposed. Under such circumstances, theinnermost of a plurality of coatings will serve as the so-called basecolor of the irregularly intermingled splotches of color of the finishedline.

While the invention has been illustrated and described in its severalpreferred embodiments and has included certain details, it should beunderstood that the invention is not to be limited to the precisedetails herein illustrated and described since the same may be carriedout in other ways. falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What I claim is:

1. A fishing line having a core provided with an exterior surface of apredetermined color throughout its extent, a coating of a differentcolor surrounding the exterior surface of the core, ad a second coatingof a different color than the first coating surrounding the core,portions of the second coating covering portions of the first coatingand portions of both coatings being so a spaced from other portionsthereof to provide 6 tionsottbeezberiormtaceofthebodyoftbe core toproduce a surface effect of a variety of colors Number Name Date Re.17,551 Weber Apr. 29, 1930 $2.56! Cowlcs Feb. 20, 1883 1,306,310 EorrisJune 10, 1919 1325,66! Buhier Sept. 16, 1930 1,845,912. Sedgley Feb. 23,1932 1:385:35 Blatz Dec. 25, 1934 2,024,251 Spelling Dec. 17, 19352,658,620 Petiiznermet Oct. 27, 1935 2,215,768. Ledrich Sept. 24, 19402,274,255 Pierce Feb. 24, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS Ember Country Date 531EGreat Britain of 1911 5,511 Great Britain u... of 1903 32,929 NorwayDec. 2'1, 1922 220,815 Great Britain Aug. 28, 192i openings renderingaccessible to view spaced parand the colorof the core of the lineexposed at the surface comprising providing a fishing line of one coloras a core, applving thereto in successive steps P mented coatings ofdifierent colors, each coating being thoroughly dried prior to theapplication of a successive coating, and after the final coating hasbeen dried, removing spaced portions of the coatings by abrasive action,said action also removing spaced portions of the core, and revolvingsaid line about its line to said abrasive action.

5. Theprocersofclaimd further characterized by applying said coatings toa core comprising a woven line and principally removing portions of saidcoatings from those areas covering the portions of the woven line corewhich are the greatest distancs from the axis thereof.

5. The process of claim! further characterized by applying said coatingsto a core having a substantially smooth cylindrical surface and removinsaidportionsoisaidcoatings by vibrafing saidline while abrading saidcoatings and thereby effecting the removal of spaced portions of saidmatings and core from said core.

MARVIN K. HEDGE.

REFERENCES CITED 'ihefollowingreferencesareof recordinthe filcofthispatent:

UNII'EH STATES PAII'EN'IS

